‘Twerking’ is Working: Miley’s Morphing into Tween’s ‘Madonna’By David E. Johnson, CEO, Strategic Vision, LLCFor someone going through the news archives fifty years from now, they might consider this time period, the age of Miley Cyrus. Since her twerk at MTV’s Video Music Awards, it seems that Miley Cyrus is everywhere and everyone has an opinion of her and what she is doing. What she is doing is staging one of the most successful rebrandings in recent history. Even the venerable …

8 Opportunities to Monitor Employee FeedbackBy Susan Young, CEO, Get in Front Communications, Inc.This week is Customer Service Week, a time devoted to recognizing employees who offer outstanding customer service and professionalism in their jobs. Employers, however, must pay attention to the message of best-selling business author Shep Hyken, who encourages us to be mindful of our “internal customers”, a.k.a. our employees.Countless studies have proven that employee …

Two Reports Offer a Comprehensive View on Main Street InvestorsFor the Agile Engagement ChannelBlog karma. Monday’s posting of the Shareholder Confidence 365 Study result on annual reports flows perfectly into the new ProxyPulse report from Broadridge and PwC. The ProxyPulse report is a very worthwhile read. As an obvious companion report, I biasly recommend our Fall 2013 How Investors Consume Your IR …

Scary Good Creative Video: ‘Carrie’ Promo Spooks New YorkersBy Larry Thomas, President of Latergy Video Marketing and Public Relations: For the Latergy Social Video ChannelA new campaign rolled out of the proverbial pumpkin patch today and is approaching 10 million viral views at a terrifying pace. With the creative juice of Stephen King and Hollywood behind it, the Sony promo for the upcoming Carrie remake is the biggest thing to scare up that many views since The Blair Witch …

Join The Discussion – In The Office: Association Trends for 2014FREE, ONLINE EVENT TODAYAssociations are often the first to see a trend developing. These trends can affect not only associations but also how member company’s market and communicate to their constituents. Hear John Graham, President and CEO of ASAE, discuss the effects of the economy, trends in marketing & communications, content management and advocacy. What does 2014 have in store? Join the discussion.

The DC Follies: Can a Nation Divided be Mended? FREE, ONLINE EVENT – October 15th“A house divided against itself cannot stand,” is a line from a speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln… While that line, drawn from the Bible, characterized another time, it certainly has application to the current environment… We appear to be a nation divided as evidenced by what’s happening in our nation’s capital these days. Is our form of government in jeopardy? Do we trust our institutions?

Why Social Media Broke PR – And How You Can Fix It FREE WEBINAR – November 6thSocial media and new media changed the PR game forever when the relationship between brand and audience went direct. If you’ve been struggling to understand how to make social work for you and how to integrate it into your PR, marketing, and communications programs in a way that makes sense, don’t miss this webinar with SHIFT Communications Vice President …

TRENDING TODAY

Ford Car Takes Control of Steering to Avoid CollisionsBBCA car that takes control of the steering wheel when it detects the risk of a collision is being tested at a research facility in Germany. Ford said the Obstacle Avoidance system first warned the driver of danger and then took charge if they did not react.The firm said the equipment had been fitted to one of its Focus-branded vehicles as part of a project involving other carmakers and suppliers.

Will This Movie’s Scary PR Stunt Get You to the Theater?Babble.comOn October 18th the remake of the classic horror film, Carrie, will be released. The film is based on the Stephen King novel about a girl who suddenly discovers she has telekinetic powers after being bullied by girls in school. The original 1976 film starred a young Sissy Spacek in the lead role and launched her career.

Free Coffee at Starbucks If You Buy Someone Else OneClearwater PatchCan the act of buying coffee change the world? Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz thinks so, and he wants to give free coffee to his customers while doing it.From Wednesday to Friday, Starbucks has announced on its website that it will provide a free coffee to anyone who offers to buy a coffee for someone else.

BUSINESS & INVESTOR NEWS

Wal-Mart Can’t Crack India, And That Bodes Poorly For Its Troubled EconomyQuartzAfter years of waiting on the sidelines for an open door, Wal-Mart is all but giving up on India as its next outpost for foreign growth. And that means India’s economy won’t get a bump from welcoming in the world’s biggest retailer.Wal-Mart’s troublesome Indian operations have suffered another setback, with the company dissolving a six-year-old joint venture and shelving plans to open retail stores in the world’s second most populous country. Wal-Mart announced it would buy out Bharti Enterprises’s share of their wholesale joint venture. It is expected to continue toiling with the wholesale business it launched with Bharti while it waits for general elections next year (which it hopes would ease up restrictions on foreign retailers).

Corporate Giants Expand Industrial InternetWAtoday.com.auGeneral Electric has announced partnerships with AT&T, Cisco and Intel to expand its industrial internet service that allows its customers to analyse data and predict outcomes.The service helps customers analyse industrial “big data” – data so large that it is difficult to process using traditional database and software.This would help customers minimise downtime, increase productivity, lower fuel costs and reduce emissions.

From CEO Dick Costolo to Peter Chernin: Who Gets Rich in Twitter’s IPOHollywood ReporterWhen President Obama won the 2012 U.S. presidential election, he first declared victory not on television but on Twitter.That’s one of Twitter’s many boasts in a 200-page prospectus it filed Oct. 3 announcing its intention of an initial public offering, perhaps because it couldn’t brag about profit — the company lost $79.4 million in 2012 and another $69.3 million in the first half of this year. In fact, some analysts weren’t even impressed with revenue: Even though sales skyrocketed more than 1,000 percent in two years, from $28.3 million in 2010 to $316.9 million in 2012, in the first half of 2013, revenue was $254 million, well below the $310 million that Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter had modeled.

A Jos. A. Bank, Men’s Wearhouse Deal Makes SenseBarron’sJos A. Bank Clothiers is shopping for men’s fashions, and it very much likes the look of its biggest rival, Men’s Wearhouse. Confirming an earlier report by The Wall Street Journal, Jos. A. Bank (ticker: JOSB) announced early Wednesday that it has offered to buy Men’s Wearhouse (MW) for $2.32 billion. At $48 a share, that’s a 36% premium to Tuesday’s closing price.But Men’s Wearhouse quickly rejected the offer, arguing that it was too low and could run afoul of antitrust regulations.

MARKETING & INNOVATION NEWS

Twitter Plugs Itself Into Comcast’s Cable TV EmpireWiredTwitter and Comcast have announced that certain tweets will now contain links to watch shows from certain NBCUniversal networks when viewed by subscribers to Comcast cable television service.The links – officially called “See It” buttons – were announced alongside an advertising deal in which Comcast’s NBCUniversal will spend an unspecified sum on Twitter ads.

China News: Its a Lumbering Behemoth That Desperately Needs to Learn How to InnovatePolicy MicIn 2007, Time Magazine’s January front cover sounded the alarm on the arrival of a “new superpower” – China. The United States and much of the world were caught up in a mammoth economic and financial bubble which would burst later that year. The hubris on China even challenged America’s free-market system and democratic politics. Much like the vogue of fascism during the 1920s and 1930s in the U.S., similar voices urged Americans to consider the benefits of a state-managed economy.

Automotive CMOs Rank High on Most Influential List Automotive NewsThe auto industry is well represented on a new list of the world’s most influential chief marketing officers.The second annual CMO Influence Study, conducted by marketing firm Appinions for Forbes magazine, analyzed the top 500 companies from the Forbes Global 2000 Biggest Public Companies list to determine the most influential CMOs in the world.

Bun Fight Erupts After Starbucks Trademarks the Name ‘Duffin’ for Their New Doughnut-Muffin Hybrid Daily MailIt is meant to be a delightfully sweet and tasty treat, but the Duffin, a doughnut – muffin hybrid, has left a very bitter taste in one pastry chef’s mouth, after Starbucks trademarked the name.Bea Vo, owner of Bea’s of Bloomsbury, has been selling her Duffins from her four London bakeries for over two years. She was shocked to learn that high street coffee giants Starbucks had launched it’s own version of the snack and registered the name.

PUBLIC RELATIONS & CORP COMM NEWS

The Power Girls, 15 Years LaterNew York ObserverRemember the Power Girls? Back in 1998, New York magazine profiled five on-fire PR women who had the world-or at least New York-at their Prada-clad feet. Writer Vanessa Grigoriadis’s piece “Welcome to the Dollhouse” marked the rise of the modern PR girl archetype: “pretty, perky and remarkably plugged-in.” Fifteen years later, where are the women who fueled Moomba’s 15 minutes?

PR Superheroes, Your Time Is NowBizcommunityWhat exactly do these extreme changes in the media landscape mean for PR? When the world around you shifts (and by shift I mean seismic ground-breaking panic-seizing, casualty-inducing movements that rip through the globe), would you continue to walk down the same old road and expect to reach the same destination? No, of course not, the path is different, altered forever. We’ve all seen those earthquake movies – roads ripped apart, lava pouring out of craters, buildings crashing and general Hollywood terror.

Apple’s iPad Announcement Leads To PR Disruption For Nokia and MicrosoftForbesAs expected, Apple has announced an event for the end of October, and the expectation is that Tim Cook and his team will be announcing the new range of iPads, along with more details on OSX Mavericks and the MacPro.The focus will be on the former, and what Apple decide to do with their tablet computers. Bumping the full sized iPad up to a 64-bit A7 CPU and adding the M7 motion chip is predictable, but many people will be watching the iPad Mini to see if it moves up two steps to the A7 chip, or sticks to a single step up from an A5 to an A6 CPU, matching the iPhone 5c in the process.

ADVERTISING & MEDIA NEWS

Financial Times: “Our Print Product Will Derive From the Web Offering – Not Vice Versa”Giga OmThe Financial Times now has more digital subscribers than print subscribers, and in a memo to staff posted on the FT.com website Wednesday editor Lionel Barber outlined the paper’s next steps in its digital-first strategy. Among the changes in store: As the paper continues to shift resources to its website, it will produce just one “global print product” starting next year. Until now, it has had multiple editions for different countries. The print product may also have just one section and “our main design effort will focus on ‘show pages’ with accompanying rich data and graphics.”

Study: Digital Ad Revenues Grow As Mobile AcceleratesStreetfightThe pie just keeps getting bigger for the digital media industry. Internet advertising revenues surged in the first half of 2013, reaching $20.1 billion on continued growth in the mobile sector, according to new study commissioned by the IAB, and conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Mobile revenues, which include both smartphones and tablet media, more than doubled in Q1 and Q2, growing from $1.2 billion in 2012 to over $3 billion this year.

Flipboard’s Brand Magazines are Doing Well – Users are Actually Subscribing to ThemGiga OmWhen Flipboard launched its custom magazines tool in March, the idea was that anybody – regular users or brands – could curate content and rack up subscribers. But would anybody really read a Flipboard magazine created by an advertiser?Turns out they will: Flipboard says that its “top” brand magazines – created by brands like Levi’s and Cisco – are seeing readers access anywhere from 20 to 40 pages per visit. “For the top performers we also see that 10 to 20 percent of the readers like the content so much they subscribe to that brand magazine, meaning they add it to their Flipboard for later reading,” Flipboard marketing exec Marci McCue told me.

The Most Effective Advertising May Be When Consumers Least Expect ItPhysOrgBut new research from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business suggests the opposite could be true: Consumers might be more influenced when they aren’t focusing on advertisements and their defenses are down.The researchers also found that while watching fast-forwarded ads, consumers are most influenced when they see brands they perceive as very different from each other in a back-to-back ad block.

TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Mozilla Pushes Firefox OS Update Ahead of Expanded LaunchPC MagazineMozilla is rolling out the first update to Firefox OS.The move comes as Mozilla plans to release more phones running Firefox OS around the globe.With support for more languages and significant performance improvements, the updated mobile operating system is available for current users, and will hit developer phones soon.

Samsung’s Curved Smartphone: A Big Innovation or a Novelty?ComputerworldThe first curved display smartphone, the 5.7-in. Samsung Galaxy Round, goes on sale today in South Korea for 1 million Korean won, equal to about $1,015. Whether the device, which runs Android 4.3, ever goes on sale in the U.S. or Europe is unknown. Analysts predict a small group of early adopters in the U.S. will favor the Round’s distinctive look, but only at half that price. If anything, a curved display could be as intriguing to buyers as the new iPhone 5S encased in metal with a shade of gold.

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This blog is provided by CommPRO Global, Inc. (CommPRO) to give visitors the opportunity to read about events and share opinions for those interested in the integrated communications business sectors.